Weintraub partner Scott Hervey presented a program on August 19, 2010 to the Association of Corporate Counsel on boilerplate language in IP transactions.
Boilerplate – those standard legal clauses appearing at the end of the agreement. These clauses are often overlooked when reviewing an agreement because they are supposed to be "standard," and in drafting
On August 10, 2010, the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., the publisher of the online computer game World of Warcraft, $88.5 million in a copyright-infringement case against a Georgia resident. The game publisher filed suit in federal court in Los Angeles in October 2009 against Alyson Reeves of Savannah, Georgia, and five unidentified defendants. Continue Reading World of Warcraft® Computer Game Maker Scores Big In Battle Against Infringers
By: Audrey Millemann and Etan Zaitsu
The federal Stored Communications Act (SCA) of 1986 was established in an attempt to give Fourth Amendment-type privacy protections to people for their Internet communications. In other words, Congress sought to protect people’s Internet privacy from warrantless intrusion. Continue Reading Social Networking Websites – Just How Private Are they?
By: Jeffrey Pietsch and Etan Zaitsu, second year law student at McGeorge School of Law
Thinking of running a smear campaign against a business competitor? Thinking of posting disparaging content about someone anonymously online? Think again. According to a decision made by the Ninth Circuit on July 12, 2010, anonymous online postings may not qualify as protected speech under the First Amendment.Continue Reading Anonymous Online Video and Blog Posters Beware
Farzad and Lisa Tabari are auto brokers specializing in matching customers with new Lexus automobiles through authorized Lexus dealers. They used two Internet domain names to market their business – buy-a-lexus.com and buyorleaselexus.com. Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. (“Toyota”), the exclusive distributor of new Lexus vehicles, objected to the Tabari’s use of their trademark “Lexus” in the domain names, and sued for infringement. The district court found infringement after a bench trial, and granted Toyota’s request for an injunction. Specifically, it enjoined the Tabari’s use of the Lexus mark in any domain names. The Tabaris appealed to the Ninth Circuit, which agreed with the Tabaris and reversed. Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. v. Tabari (9th Cir. July 8, 2010).Continue Reading Nominative Fair Use of a Lexus
